Cohasset to welcome service dog 'Parker'

It's taken a year to ready a young Goldendoodle to provide invaluable assistance to a little girl in Cohasset.

Over the past 12 months, service dog (SD) “Parker” has undergone extensive training with multiple trainers in order to learn his duties. This week, he comes to Cohasset to fully take on the job he was born to do.

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Posted Jun. 14, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Posted Jun. 14, 2014 at 11:00 AM

Meet Cohasset's Working Dogs

What: Cohasset Working Dog Foundation introduces Service Dog Parker to the community. There will also be Service Dog and Police K-9 demonstrations.

When: Sunday, Ju...

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Meet Cohasset's Working Dogs

What: Cohasset Working Dog Foundation introduces Service Dog Parker to the community. There will also be Service Dog and Police K-9 demonstrations.

When: Sunday, June 15, 5:15 p.m.

Where: Cohasset Common in the most shaded area between St. Stephen’s and Meetinghouse Pond.

Why: It’s an opportunity to learn more about the role of Cohasset’s working dogs, how they help people and how they should be treated in the community.

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It’s taken a year to ready a young Goldendoodle to provide invaluable assistance to a little girl in Cohasset.

Over the past 12 months, service dog (SD) “Parker” has undergone extensive training with multiple trainers in order to learn his duties. This week, he comes to Cohasset to fully take on the job he was born to do.

SD Parker is the first product of the Cohasset Working Dog Foundation’s (CWDF) service dog grant program.

“This is the fulfillment of our pledge to the community,” says CWDF founder Trish Morse. The organization now supports four working dogs in Cohasset - SD “Parker”, Cohasset’s Police K9 “Erik” and two therapy dogs, “Sophie” and “Lyle”. “It’s been a wonderful experience bringing these programs to the community,” Morse said. CWDF plans to seek applicants for its next service dog grant later this summer.

CWDF found assistance through the process from Georgia-based 1Boy4Change, a non-profit founded by 16 year-old Chris Carswell, which assists in providing service dogs to children and veterans. Carswell founded the organization after he and his family experienced the challenging process of getting a service dog to help him with seizures and other medical conditions. Carswell’s service dog, SD “Bronx” will also be coming to Cohasset with the team. SD Bronx was The American Humane Associations “Hero Dog” in the service dog category in 2013. Carswell and his mother, Janet, trained SD “Parker” as a young puppy.

Next, Parker traveled to Tennessee where he received his finishing training from James Quarterman at Island Grove Kennels. Quarterman has helped train and graduate 19 service dog teams for 1Boy4Change. Carswell has placed 46 service dogs with children and 14 service dogs with veterans nationwide and in Canada.

The Carswells and Quarterman are driving to Cohasset this weekend to bring SD Parker to his new family.

“He’ll go through a weeklong training with the family,” Morse said. “Before the training team leaves Cohasset next weekend, Parker will have developed a strong bond with his girl.”

To welcome SD Parker to town, and to learn about how we should respond when we meet service dogs in our community, the CWDF is hosting an event this Sunday, June 15 at 5:15 p.m. on the Common.

“It will be the public’s opportunity to meet this awesome dog before he begins his work,” Morse said.

The event is a chance for the community to learn more about service dogs, including their duties, training and proper etiquette around them. SD Parker will demonstrate some of his training as well.

Joining SD “Parker” at the event will be SD “Bronx”, K-9 “Erik”, and therapy dogs Sophie and Lyle. The training team and SD Bronx will also do a demonstration at Deer Hill School on Monday morning, (June 16).